Instability
by Thermophile57
Summary: caving is dangerous but some are willing to take risks. KakaIru AU death, gore, adventure, drama, etc.
1. Chapter 1

The silence is nice.

Unrelenting and constant, but it helps the thinking process.

Let's your mind wander.

The only place you can find perfect tranquility is the ocean.

The density of the water blocks almost all noise except the dolphin's squeal.

Dolphins.

They're wonderful creatures Loyal, kind, and trustworthy. But most of all free, untameable in their finest hour and otherwise.

They are probably my favorite animal. The type of dolphin doesn't matter to me.

Well, I guess it does.

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><p>I smile to myself as the water moves over me again. I opened my eyes and stared into the deep blue of the pool, the surface of the water shining from the sunlight reflecting off its surface. I sit myself up and take hold of the oxygen tank that my mouth piece is attached to. I got to my feet and push myself towards the surface.<p>

Once the air hits my face, I hit the off switch on my mouth piece to stop the oxygen from flowing, pulled it from my face and take a big gulp of warm chlorinated air.

"So?"

I look up into the face of my dolphin and smile at him. He hadn't been awake when I dove into the pool and it was sweet that he came to see me now, it made me feel like I was worth something.

He cocked his head to the side and his ponytail swung to an angle. I watched as his eyes sparkled from the pool's reflection as I swam closer to the edge. I pulled myself up and out as he backed up to leave me room.

"Having a little morning dive?" he asks me as his eyes scan me up and down. He catches me watching him and averts his eyes. I smirk at him. Ah, yes, the famous but rare little pervert my little dolphin keeps hidden under tight security has made an appearance. I probably won't see that side of him again today unless he's feeling especially…enthusiastic.

I grin and drop the equipment near my feet, test one initiated. I walk smoothly towards him and run my hand through my hair in a way that I knew was drop-dead sexy to him. I see his eyes roam my bare chest all the way to the waistband of my surf shorts. He backs up a step but stands his ground as I step up in front of him, his cheeks dusted with a blush. I lean in close to his ear, "miss me, already?".

I could practically hear the shiver run through him. Test one complete, result: positive. I definitely have one enthusiastic dolphin on my hands. He looks down and laughs breathily. "I came to see you because it's almost lunch and you've been in here for over three hours."

I take one of his hands and kiss it; my other hand made its way to his slim hip and pulled him closer to me. His warmth was nice; better than nice even. He felt like a warm fire burning right next to me, and I wanted more of it. I pressed him up against me and held him close, enjoying his heat as well as the smell of his tropical shampoo. I sulked into his hair, "So, you didn't miss me?"

I felt his arms snake around my neck and he looked me in the eyes. His brown eyes shone even without the pool. "No, I did. I would've come sooner but it looked like you were having so much fun down there."

"I would rather be with you than that silly little pool any day." I said to him and he blushed. I laced his hand with mine and led him out of the pool room into the sunlight of the walkway. We went down the walkway that travelled through the backyard to the apartment complex and soon stepped into the elevator, pressed the penthouse button. While we traveled upwards he pulled me towards the corner, I rested my hands on either side of his head and pressed my lips to his. The elevator dinged and I grabbed his hands again and pulled him into the penthouse we shared.

"Naruto will be here soon." He says as he flops onto the couch. I followed my nose to the smell coming from the kitchen to find a small stack of chocolate-chip pancakes waiting for me. They were cold but a quick thirty seconds in the microwave and they became steaming hot. Grabbing a fork, I made my way to the living room. I give Iruka a quick peck on his cheek before plopping myself down at the opposite end of the couch.

"Thanks," I say as I bite into my very late breakfast.

"Anytime," He says happily thankful for the recognition. "They would have been fresh if you hadn't taken so long."

He jumped off the couch when the elevator dinged. I watched as Naruto stepped out of the elevator and Iruka greeted him. The sixteen-year-old dropped his things near the entry and wrapped my boyfriend in a big hug. Iruka grinned at him and hugged the young man back.

I felt a twinge of jealously poke at my heart but I quickly dismissed it with a bite of the pancakes Iruka had made especially for me. Iruka preferred plain pancakes with strawberries on the side and it made me feel special that he had made a batch just the way I like them, even though adding chocolate chips isn't that hard but it was the thought that counted.

The blond finally noticed me and gave a wave which I returned. He sauntered over and asked with a grin, "Did you miss breakfast again, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Nope," I said as I bit into the last pancake on my plate. "I was diving in the pool and I got lost on the path of life."

Iruka snorted from the guestroom where he was setting down Naruto's suitcase. The boy wrinkled his nose and went to the entry to grab his caving gear saying, "That excuse is getting old!"

I grinned and went to wash my dishes, I was at the sink when Naruto popped up next to me. I asked, "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." He looked nervous though and he was fiddling with the zipper of his sleeveless hoodie. I dried the dishes and put down the cloth, looking Naruto in the eyes. "You know you don't have to go if you don't feel up to it."

He looked shocked for a moment. "No! I'm totally up for it! I've been waiting for this for ages! I've spent years training with you guys for this! I'm not going to drop out at the last moment!"

"Naruto, this competition is dangerous and people die if their hearts aren't in it." I grab his shoulders and look him in the eyes. "It's okay to back down, Iruka and I will understand completely if you do."

The stubborn teen shook his head. "I'm not about to give up now! I want to do this and our team is going to win this thing!"

His huge grin was contagious and I found myself smiling slightly too. I dropped his shoulders and went to where Naruto dropped his gear, I moved Naruto's backpack to the closet as Iruka came down the stairs. My brunet grabbed his keys and wallet saying, "We should go to the store now and pick up the rest of our gear."

I nodded and went to our room to change out of my shorts and into my jeans and a shirt. I sighed as I return to where Iruka and Naruto were waiting in the entry, this would be the last time I would be wearing jeans for a while.

The store wasn't too crowded and we were in peace as we selected socks, shirts and undergarments. At the grocery store we grabbed granola bars, bags of trail mix and other foods that we would need. The next store was a sports equipment store, where we bought new wet suits for each of us, as well as climbing boots, helmets, water-proof flashlights and other necessities. We ate dinner at a fancy restaurant for the last time in what could be weeks or months.

We had a lot of last times that evening. The last time walking down Main Street, the last time we saw the sunset, but the scariest part about it all was that it might really be the last time, not just in a while but forever. I hoped not, at least for the two people I was with, it didn't really matter whether I survived or not.

We came home that night with stuffed arms and bellies.

"So, when are we leaving tomorrow?" Naruto asked as we shuffled our way into our place.

"The plane takes off at ten," Iruka replied as he dropped a load of bags onto the floor near the dining table. "But we have wake up at around eight to pack and get ready. We should all go to sleep early tonight. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Satisfied with the response, Naruto dragged himself off to the guest room. I, on the other hand, turned on the TV and dropped on the couch, this would be my last time watching CSI. I felt Iruka's eyes on me and waited until I felt his hands on my shoulders. He started massaging my shoulders before wrapping his arms around my neck, purring into my ear. "We have a long day tomorrow. Come to bed, love."

Ah, he could make me do anything by just looking at me and now I was complete putty in his delicate hands. I hummed in response and followed him to our room, forgetting all about the TV. I stripped down to my boxers and we crawled into bed. I wrapped my arms around his waist and he wrapped his around my neck, pulling our bodies flat against each other.

We stayed there like that before I heard a soft whisper, "I love you, Kakashi."

I opened my eyes and found him watching me with a fond look. I smiled at him. "I love you too, 'Ruka."

I kissed him and he kissed me back. We cuddled and whispered sweet nothings to each other until he fell asleep. I shifted us so his head was on my chest and I ran my fingers through his hair. I laid my cheek on the top of his head and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>yeah, nothing to do with my other stories. trying to continue them but im beta-less so my thoughts are all scattered.<p>

this has more than one chap. more coming...later not now...

Inspired by the movie Sanctum. made me cry T-T

NOTE: THIS HAS BEEN REUPLOADED

i would like to thank the beautiful Anna Uzumaki for beta-ing :)


	2. Chapter 2

Hahaha! I FINALLY got this chap up!

Sorry for the long wait!

Anyway, WARNING: after this chapter there will be a lot of bloodshed!

* * *

><p>I watched my boyfriend and student talk and check over their packs as I adjusted the light on my helmet next to the mini camera that the race supervisors had screwed into the helmet. It was set to send out the video feed from any distance. Once the race started it would film from each person's point of view. Officially, they had started this many years ago to supervise the race and make sure they knew where the cavers were at all times. Unofficially, it was to film every moment so that the race coordinators could sell them to the highest bidder.<p>

Once it was properly set and the supervisors gave me a nod, I went back over to where Iruka had begun studying our scenery with awe. You couldn't blame him, the rainforest was beautiful this time of year.

Each team had been brought in by an almost-windowless jet to make their location more mysterious. The jets had landed more than an hour ago on a makeshift runway and all the teams had been unloaded along with reporters and their fat wallets.

Our team, which had been christened team 7 by a very perky monitor, was set up near the stage that the race's makers had temporarily prepared for just this day to greet and go over the rules with the racers. They were going to broadcast the welcome of the race and its participants to the whole world via the reporters' cameras.

"Hey," Iruka greeted as I sat down cross-legged next to him and our student who was snapping his pack shut but we were all called to attention when the perky monitor bounced to the stage and flicked on a microphone from out of nowhere. She tapped it to get everyone's attention and we all stood up.

"Hello, everyone! My name is Cathy and I am honored to welcome you all to our eighth spelunking race! I'm sure everyone knows the reason they're here but let me give you a summary of the race!" she smiled at all of us but most of us spaced out as this was mostly for the cameras and not for us. "Each team will be placed at an entrance to the caves that run throughout these mountains. Your mission is to go through those caves until you reach an exit that hasn't been used already as an entrance. You will know if it has been used by the markers we have preplaced. In the caves you will be spelunking, climbing, rappelling, diving and scuba diving to reach the exits. These caves have never been seen before by government experts but our own team of specialists have gone through them and found exits though there are risks. There are thousands of tunnels down there and not all of them have been explored. Some of you might take a wrong turn or two and will have to retrace your steps but don't get your hopes down because if you give up or are injured fatally all you have to do is press the 'emergency' button on your helmet-cameras and our specialists will go in and get you out!"

Everyone sighed and waited for her to finish her long speech, detailing how much we could bring and rules.

"Now, I'd like to bring to the stage two very important people who we are very lucky to have for this race!" she grinned and searched the crowd until her eyes lighted upon our team, gesturing at us. My eyes widened and my heart dropped. "Please give a warm welcome to last race's winners: Iruka Umino and Kakashi Hatake!"

I froze before blinking out of the trance moments later and looking to my partner. He was motionless with shock and I turned to see the other teams were now staring at us along with the cameras and Naruto as well. Sooner than we could react, two supervisors with creepy grins dragged us to the stage and left us to stand wide-eyed next to Cathy who was smiling like a cat who caught the canary. In some ways, she had.

"How does it feel to do the race again?" she shoved the microphone into Iruka's face even though he was still shell-shocked.

"Uh…um…I…" he stared wide-eyed and pale-faced at the crowd until I leaned down into the microphone to 'save the day'.

"Excited," I said to the happy-go-lucky monitor that seemed satisfied with the response and she ushered us off stage as she continued with her big speech. Iruka gave me a thankful but worried look as we made our way back to Naruto. The blond was biting his nails.

"Is that bad?" he hissed while glancing back at the crowd of people, checking if of them were looked at us.

"That depends, now they see us as strong opponents and most likely it will put a bigger target on our backs but if we're lucky they'll stay out of our way." I said while scanning the crowd, catching one or two groups with their eyes on us, one being specifically the Uchiha team.

Unfortunately for our team, the Uchiha had won three races before consecutively and had been hoping to win last time, losing epically to Iruka's and mine's make-shift, three-man alliance. Now, though, it seemed as though last year's competitor's little brother was back with a vengeance. Itachi Uchiha had died unfortunately inside the tunnels of the last competing "arena".

But Sasuke, Itachi's little brother, was of age to participate and with the way he was glaring from across the crowd at us I doubted he wanted to about it chat over milk and cookies.

"Kakashi," I turned back to Iruka to find him biting his lip and I laced my fingers through his as he lead me a small distance away from our blond companion, "I really regret bringing Naruto."

"Ru, we technically didn't bring him along. He was the one who pushed us to sign up. So, he actually brought himself along," I gave him a silly grin but, seeing how serious he was and didn't laugh, I let it drop and brought the hand in mine up to kiss it reassuringly. "Hey, we'll get through this, okay?"

My reassuring triumphed and the brunet smiled, saying as he pulled himself up on his tippy toes to kiss my cheek thankfully, "We should get ready, the guide's going to lead us to our staring point soon."

The hike up the mountain was long but not tiring. It was most likely that our team was eager to start and was working on the adrenaline running through us, knowing the race was going to start soon. The brown-haired guide brought us winding up the side of the farthest mountain, leading us up its right side until we hit the half-way point.

"Since you are the last team to reach your starting point and the others had time to rest, the race will start in ten minutes," the official said as we dropped out gear and studied our entrance which was a beautiful cave a little higher than halfway up the mountain, moss growing on the walls around the tunnel that went deep into the heart of that mountain. A little, plastic peg jutted out of a patch of dirt near the mouth of the cave, sending orange light from the sun reflecting off it onto the moss.

A bubbled of laughter drew both mine and Iruka's attention to the young man who was grinning at the cave, clenching his fist in delight, "this is so cool! I can't wait to start! I feel so pumped now! We're going to blow the competition away!"

I smiled at the teen's animated gestures and chuckled at the blond's words, "alright, don't get too ahead of yourself. We have to actually start the race before you can do that."

"Aw, come on! Don't be such a spoil-sport, Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto bounced back and grabbed his gear again, throwing a fist into the air. "Let's start then! I'm pumped and ready for some action!"

"You heard him," turning, I found Iruka grinning and shouldering his pack as well with the same energy and enthusiasm Naruto had adopted from him over the years. "Let's get this show on the road!"

After a chuckle and shake of the head, I pulled my gear on again and gestured to the guide who had grabbed a Walky-talky, waiting for confirmation, "alright, then, do your stuff Mr. Official."

The man nodded and mumbled some words into the hand-held, nodding to us as he said the race will begin once the countdown finished. Iruka, Naruto and I positioned ourselves at the lip of the cave, just before the marker, and stared nervously into the dark abyss of the cave as we listened to the decrescendo of number coming out of the Walky.

_"Five….four….three…."_ I glanced at Iruka one last time and met his eyes, giving him another smile that he returned anxiously. _"Two….one….Start!"_

We flicked on the light on our helmets and Iruka took the first step forward, leading the way into the deeps of the cave with Naruto behind him and me coming up at the back.

The ground sloped downward slightly and grew with every few feet, turning into a steep decline that had our team slipping every few seconds on the drops of water that ran down from the outside into the cave.

"Be very careful," Iruka warned as he gripped a wet stalagmite near him to steady himself, Naruto following his lead. He paused shortly after, head up and listening, bringing the rest of us to do the same. We listened until a sound reached my ears. It sounded like the gushing of water. I grinned.

"Looks like the first length of our journey have started," the blond in front of me swivelled his head to look at me with his lips mirroring mine.

"If my ears don't deceive me, I think that's a waterfall up ahead. Right, sensei?" a tug at both our ropes drew our attention to the brunet who was smiling brilliantly at the front.

"Well? Are we going to check it out or are we just going to sit here?"

"Lead the way," I made a grand gesture with my arm to the path and, with chuckles, we descended towards the sound to find the mother of all waterfalls.

It cascaded down from a hole far above them that looked only like a needle point from this distance and fell down the sides of the horizontal tunnel that had been worn to the point that the sides looked silky smooth and down into the darkness bellow, seemingly never ending.

We struggled down the steep incline to rest as close as they could to the lip of the tunnel as they could get without falling in. The water that had been running on the ground before now flew down the incline to join the others as they dripped down slightly from the lip of the ceiling.

Taking a few minutes to admire the sight, we hung our packs on the stalagmites that were closest and stood watching in the darkness with the light from our helmets bouncing off the water and walls.

"Well," I turned to Iruka to find he had pulled out the long coil of rope from his pack and was looking at us with a smirk. "Let's get a move on, shall we?"

For now, we were content with how things were running.

But there was a heavy cloud hanging at the back of mine and Iruka's minds. We knew that this peaceful pace was not to last and that, eventually, the bloodshed would start.


End file.
